What the study of a supercentenarian after her death can tell us about our lives

By HPN Staff

A new study of a woman who lived to 117 may yield clues to healthy aging.

Researchers studied blood, saliva, urine and stool samples from Maria Branyas Morera — a Spanish woman believed to be the world’s oldest until her death last year — and compared them to sample results from other people, young and old.

“These findings provide a fresh look at human aging biology, suggesting biomarkers for healthy aging and potential strategies to increase life expectancy,” the researchers said.

Overall, the researchers cautioned against drawing too many conclusions.

“Aging and the achievement of extreme longevity are probably highly individualized processes, shaped by a confluence of genetic, environmental, and stochastic factors,” they wrote. “Drawing broadly applicable conclusions from a single subject should be taken with caution.”

But one of the study’s lead authors told The Washington Post that the main takeaway was that “aging and illness are separable.”

Why it matters

Morera was born in San Francisco but lived most of her life in Spain, dying in an area where the average life expectancy is 86.

Researchers attributed much of her longevity to genetics, and the data they collected could point to discoveries in the field. For example, her genome had markers already linked to long lifespans, but also some that weren’t known longevity contributors, The Washington Post reported.

Also, the researchers noted that none of Morera’s close relatives lived nearly as long as she did, and their data suggests that Morera’s robust immune system was tied to a microbiome that “teemed with bacteria known to produce substances that may help reduce inflammation throughout the body,” according to the Post.

She mostly ate a Mediterranean diet — which is plant-heavy and widely thought to be one of the healthiest diets — walked often, and, as she got older, ate plain yogurt three times a day. Researchers told the Post that “her blood chemistry at 116 looked like that of someone decades younger.”

Researchers also said Morera was outgoing and enjoyed spending time with others at her assisted living facility, which may prove important as isolation seems to be growing in U.S. society. 

The bigger picture

Morera was a supercentenarian, which means a person who reaches at least 110 years old.

It’s not clear how many people make it that far, but the Gerontology Research Group, which works to validate ages, includes 200 people worldwide on its list of current supercentenarians.

Researchers said they hope to see more studies “to design potential anti-aging interventions,” but that their results already “provide a fresh look at human aging biology, suggesting biomarkers for healthy aging and potential strategies to increase life expectancy.”

The results also suggest new questions about telomeres, the caps at the end of chromosomes that shorten as DNA replicates. Telomeres are thought to be a marker for aging: The shorter the telomere, the nearer death.

Short telomeres also “have been associated with age-related diseases,” Nature reports, but Morera had exceedingly short telomeres and no such illnesses.

“This is telling us that the loss of telomeres is not necessarily associated with disease, it’s simply associated with being old,” researcher Manel Esteller told Nature.